Stitching of folded sheets into bound volumes



May 3, 1932. o. LUTOLF 1,856,345

STITCHING OF FOLDED SHEETS INTO BOUND VOLUMES Filed Nov. 12. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l5 a2 a5 '59 62 8 .52 My $f L; y a LJ May 3, 1932. o. LUTOLF 1,856,346

STITCHING OF FOLDED SHEETS INTO BOUND VOLUMES Filed Nov. 12, 1950 2 SheetsSheet 2 "'7 Y 62 15y. 14. 72 4 a m5 4975 74 W l A v n- Patented May 3, 1932 PATENT OFFICE OTTO Lll'TOLF, OF ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND STITCHING 0F FOLDED SHEETS INTO BOUND VOLUMES Application filed November 12, 1930, Serial No. 495,272, and in Switzerland November 20, 1929.

7 A device is already known for stitching the layers of folded sheets of a book on transverse strips by means of a pressure plate and by means of staples arranged in the last break or fold of the folded sheets.

This pressure plate has however the disadvantage that the limbs of the staples, when the end hooks impinge upon the transverse strips, yield laterally, which results in a defective stitching.

The present invention relates to a stitching head for the simultaneous stitching of-the layers of sheets of a book by means of staples arranged in the last folds of the sheets, the ends of the shanks thereof projecting in rows out of the back of the book and being constructed with end hooks, thin thrust plates corresponding in their thickness to the thickness of the staples, and thin guiding plates engaging between the latter and corresponding in their thickness to the distance of the thrust plates from one another, are provided in rows corresponding to the staples, insuch a way that the end hooks of the staples, during the pressing in by means of the thrust plates, are so guided by the guiding plates that it becomes impossible for them to yield laterally.

The invention is illustrated in one constructional example 1n the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a front view thereof with some parts omitted,

Figure 2 a plan of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 a section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Figures 4 and 5 show details in side elevation;

Figure 6 shows an individual part on a larger scale;

Figures 7 and 8 show a detail in side elevation and front elevation respectively;

Figures 9 and 10 show a detail in side elevation and in plan respectively,

Figures 11 and 12 show a detail in side elevation and in front elevation respectively,

Figure 13 shows a further detail in side elevation, and Figures 14 to 19 show sections on the line 14-14 in'Fig. 6, with the parts in V difierent'positions.

' press lamina 40 A rectangular frame 20 is so arranged as to be adjustable in a vertical direction by means of a frame-like swinging carrier 21, which is rockable about a connecting rod 23 connecting the parts 22 of the machine frame. iii On its arm 24 is provided a roller 2'5. This roller 25 runs upon a cam 26, which is mounted fast upon a shaft 27, which is journalled in the two parts 22 of the machine frame. Above the frame 20 is arranged a rectangular frame 28, into which the former can be introduced from below, and in the frame 20 is arranged a thrust plate 29 which is displaceable in a vertical direction by means of a screw spindle 30, and which serves as a guide for the frame 20. The frame 28 is guided by round rods 31, and is adjustable in height by means of a swinging carrier'32, which is rockable about a connecting rod 33 connecting the two parts 22 of the machine frame with one another. It is provided with a fork 34, on the free ends of which are arranged two antifriction rollers (see Figs. 2 and 3), which run upon cams 36, which are secured at the sides of the cams 26 upon the shaft 27 The shaft 27 can be rotated by means of a driving pulley 37 (Fig. 2) from a driving shaft, not shown. a l

U on the thrust plate 29 are arranged a num er of vertical thrust bars 38 corresponding to the number of rows of staples. These thrust bars extend across the thrust plate and carry upon their backs guiding strips 39, which serve for the accurate mounting of (Figs. 11 and 12) provided with stepped recesses 41. Between thepress laminae 40 are arranged distance pieces 42, shown in Figures 7 and 8. The press laminae 4O correspond in their thickness cl (Fig. 12) to the diameter or thickness of the staples, while the thickness cl of th distance piece 42 (Fig. 8) corresponds to the distance of the staples from one another, this latter distance varying according to the thickness of the paper and the number of individual sheets. The 95 press laminae 40 and the distance pieces 42 are provided with bores 43 registering with one another. Through these are passed stems 44, which are screwed at one end into the extensions 45 of the thrust bar 38 and are introduced at the other end into press screws 46, which are screwed at one end into the extensions 47 of the thrust bars 38 and their other ends press the press laminm 40 and the distance pieces 42 against one another and against the extensions 45 of the thrust bars 38.

48 are guiding laminae engaging between the press laminae 40. They are secured in frames 49, for which purpose their lower ends are inserted, with the interposition of little distance plates 52, in longitudinal grooves 50 (see Fig. 6) in the lower frame members 51 of the frame 49. The guiding laminae and. the distance plates are firmly clamped by means of screws 53 (F 6) to one another and to stops 54 bounding tie longitudinal grooves 50. Furthermore the guiding laminae are secured in any convenient manner to the upper frame member 55 of the frame 49, with.

the interposition of small distance plates 56, which may also be secured to the guiding laminae.

The frames 49 are rockably supported by means of pivots 57 in alignment with the lower frame members 51 in bores in the frame 20, and guided by means of pivots 58 in alignment with the upper frame member slots 59 in the frame 28, and so arranged in pairs that there is a frame 49 on each side of the thrust bars 38, the guidin laminae 48 of which can be caused to enqane between the thrust laminae. The heads 60 of the guidinc; laminae 48, on the oppositely directed cues of each pair of frames, are provided w th sharp edges 61, (see Figs. 9 and 10) in order that the laminae may be able to be introduced without hindrance between the little staple hooks.

The longitudinal members of the frame 28 are connected by bridge pieces 62 projecting somewhat beyond this frame, which serve a support for the book to be s itched on to the transverse binding strips. The transverse pins 63 serve to the same purpose when insorting the book. The transverse pins 63 parallel to the bridge pieces 62 and are so supported as to be displaceable in their lon gitudinal direction in guides arranged on the upper edge of the longitudinal .iemhers of the frame 28. The ends thereof project beyond the frame members serving to guide them, and on one side they are bent over to form hooks and inserted in a bar 64. (see Figs. 2 and 3) which is slidable upon CtlIlf/lllQ bolts 65 arranged on the frame 28, and. after the displacement under the action of springs 66 stressed thereby, is returned into its initial position, whereby the displaced pins 63 are also returned into their initial position.

67 is an adjustable press aw, and 68 a displaceable press jaw, shown in Figure 3.

hese press jaws are intended for the purpose of holding the book fast during the stitching operation. i

In the construction illustrated in the drawings the sheets of a book may be simultaneously stitched on to transverse binding strips at four places, the stitching head comprising four groups of tools for pressing in and guiding the staples located in rows and arranged on the last sheet folds, one group of tools comprising at least one press bar 38, with the press laminae 40 and the distance pieces 42 mounted upon it, and a pair of frames 49, with guiding laminae 48 and the distance plates 56. Obviously more or even less than four groups of tools might be provided on a stitching head, the number thereof being regulated according to that of the rows of staples, which in its turn is dependent upon the form of the book, upon which the distance between the individual groups of tools is also dependent.

The stitching is preferably eifected in such a manner that first the book 70 to be stitched together, with staples 71 arranged in the last folds of the individual sheets, the limbs 72 of these staples standing out from the back of the sheets and being shaped into end hooks 73, is so placed between the press jaws 67 and 68, the pressing surfaces of which proj ect until the line G in Figures 14 to 19, that the backs of the sheets which are formed by the folds, and which are represented by the line L in Figs. 14 to 19, bear upon the bridge pieces 62 and the transverse pins 63. The sheets or the staples 71 are thereby to be so arranged that the plane of symmetry of the latter coincides with that of the thrust laminae 40, which can be brought about by special machine parts not here coming into consideration. The initial position will be seen in Fig. 14.

In consequence of the rotation of the shaft 27 in the direction of the arrow P in Fig. 3, by means of the cam 36, the frame 28 is at first raised so far that the bridge pieces 62 and the cross pins 68 hear from below against the press jaws. The book is thereby brought to the correct working level. In the drawings the two lines G and L now coincide with one another as shown in Figure 15. This lift of the frame 28 is so dimensioned that the.

pins 58 of the frames 49 do not pass intothe obliquely directed path of the slots 59, so that no rocking of the guiding laminae 48 takes place, and the hooks of the staples can be displaced parallel to the bridge pieces 62 without pushing against the heads 60 of the guiding laminae 48.

After the raising of the frame 28, there takes place the clamping of the book and the compression thereof, by the press jaws 67 and 68, this position being shown in Figure 15. The compression of the book takes place in such a manner that the press jaw 68. is displaced towards the press jaw 67, by means which do not come further into consideration.

Thereby the pins 63 are displaced by a ledge 68' (see Fig. 3) arranged underneath the press jaw 68, towards the springs 66, which are thereby stressed. The object of the pins 63 is to prevent individual sheets from dropping out during the insertion between the press jaws, for instance when the press jaw 68 is drawn out beyond the bridge pieces 62 or the frame 28.

Upon the further rotation of the shaft 27 the cam 26 raises the frame 20 in a first stage so far that the heads 60 of the guiding laminae 48 pass quite close to the back of the book. During this operation the frame 28 remains in the raised position, shown in Figure 16. The frame 28 then sinks back into its original position under the action of the cams 36, while the frame 20 still remains in the raised position, so that the pins 58 pass into the inclined portions of the slots 59, and the heads of the guiding laminae approach so close to one another that a slide part introducing the binding strip 74 between the book back and the limbs 72 of the staples 71 can pass between the guiding laminae,'as shown in Fig. 17.

After the drawing back of the slide 75, without taking the binding strip 74 with it, the frame 20 is somewhat raised again by means of the cams 26, so that the sharp edges 61 of the heads 60 of the guiding laminae 4C8 stand quite close together facing one another in pairs. At the same time also by means of the screw spindle 30 the distance between the press laminae 4:0 and the book back is increased for the purpose of rendering possible a greater path of the press laminae and therefore a more energetic pressing in of the hooks, as shown in Figure 18. After the press laminae have reached their lowest position they are guided upwards again by means of the screw 30 and pressed by the thrust plate 29 and the thrust bars 38 against the sheet backs, the limbs 72 of the stitching clips being pressed against the sheet backs and their end hooks being pressed into the sheet backs through the binding strips and being closed in themselves.

In this pressing operation the press laminae L0 slip upwards between the uiding laminae 48, by which latter the limbs 2 with the hooks 7 3 are guided during the pressing in, so that they are prevented from yielding laterally.

What I claim is:

1. A stitching head for bending down the shanks of all the hookended staples projecting from a pinched book in a single operation, comprising two parallel sets of oscillating guiding laminae, means in all the spaces between the shanks of the staples for positively swinging the said guiding laminae to and from another, press laminae vertically movable between the two parallel sets of guiding laminae, and adapted to make parallel the said shanks, means to carry a binding strip under each row of folded sheets, and means to press upwards the press lammae to press the shanks of the staples down to the binding strips carried under the rows of folded sheets and the hooked ends of the staples into the said strips and through the folds of the sheets.

2. A stitching head for binding down the shanks of all the hookended staples projecting from a pinched book block in a single operation, comprising two parallel sets of oscillating guiding laminae having sharp heads and movable from both sides into all the spaces between the shanks of the staples and adapted to make parallel the said shanks, a vertically movable frame having small bearing bars to align the backs of the sheets and cam grooves to move the said two rows of guiding laminae to and from another when the frame moves down and upwards, press laminae vertically movable between the two parallel sets of guiding laminae, means to carry a binding strip under each row of folded sheets, and a vertically movable frame to press upwards the press laminae to press the shanks of the staples down to the binding strips carried under the rows of folded sheets and through the folds of the sheets, each of the said frames being capable of being moved independently of the other.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

OTTO LllTOLF. 

